I Rode 100 Miles More Than You!

I love the first weekend of June.That's when we do our annual Girls Only bike ride through the green fields of Cache Valley.This time the air was warm and the farm smell was powerful. Fifty miles on a road bike wasn't all that bad, but then....I rode another fifty in my sleep. After the "real" ride I felt pretty good, went to bed and peddled all night long.

The absolute best part of the first weekend in June is that
when a bunch of gals get together the conversation is never
dull and laughter is plentiful. There is nothing better than
plentiful laughter especially when one of us comments on
how good the "Erotic Indian Food is". Uh, that would
be "Exotic Indian Food".

"The Other Guy"

By now most humans have seen the blockbuster movie "The Avengers" which is about six superheroes coming together to save the world. Each SuperHero has his own super-power: a demi-god with a big hammer, a super-soldier with a protecting shield, a guy with an indestructible iron body suit, a man with breathtaking anger management issues and a couple of master assassins. Guess which is my favorite?
HINT#1: his only job is to "SMASH
HINT #2: (movie quote) " I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster"..........THE HULK!......
I love the Hulk because he and Tanner share so many characteristics:

1---The madder he gets, the stronger he gets
2---Their physical strength depends on their emotional state
3---Both are gentle creatures until "the other guy" takes control and makes a mess

So the first time I heard the term "rage monster" I immediately thought of Tanner. If you love Tanner then you gotta love The Hulk

Teenage Wasteland

In April I feared that I had lost my little girl. On her thirteenth birthday Hailey didn't have that excited sparkle in her eyes when she opened gifts.She looked...uh...bored. She didn't make that exaggerated and playful effort to blow out the birthday candles.It was as if she had lost her belief in birthday wishes coming true. She seemed so...uh...unimpressed.I asked her if she had a good birthday. She said it was "fine". She is so...uh...uncommunicative. I ask her how school is and she responds "it's ok". She is so...uh...vague. I ask her what she's doing, she says "nothing". She is so....uh....secretive.
Who are you texting? I ask her. "nobody you know" she says. She is so....uh...whatever!

 

 What more does a teenager need except unlimited texting, a laptop for Facebook, some ear ear buds to listen to her favorite tunes and a cold ginger ale. *and for mom to quit asking so many questions*.

So lately I've been feeling  a little nostalgic until one Sunday I looked out the window and saw my "cool" teenager climbing over the fence in her finest church clothes. She still takes the "short cut" to

to church. If  she can do this without shame then I surely haven't lost my little girl quite yet!

       

 

The Gift of All Gifts

I had to endure yet another unwelcome birthday. Luckily I was
presented with a luxury that few get the pleasure of receiving on
their special day.

This baby is perfect for power-hungry vacuumers like me;
impressive power, great handling balance, traction control,
GPS, keyless ignition, graceful and responsive.
250 horsepower, goes from zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds....
Finally, the luxury I deserve.

oops, I was reading the owners manual for a Lexus.

Anchors Aweigh

For our twentieth anniversary Dave got me a cute little ship
and invited 150 happy strangers to keep us company.





He even let me sail it!



"Trim the mainsail, let out the jib, bring her hard to starboard!"



Dave swam in the mini-pool each morning...756 laps for a mile



And I was a princess for a week


I set course for St. Lucia and sailed past the majestic Pitons
in the early morning sunlight. The flare of the sun's rays
peeked through the mist in sheets giving the peaks a dramatic
outline against the fresh Caribbean sky.

The next day in Bequia I posed for a new magazine called
"Past Your Prime".


We spent most of our time underwater off the tiny uninhabited
islands of the Tobago Cays. The tropical reef was full of marine
life and alluring coral formations


The island of Mayreau offered a wide expanse of beautiful sand
bordered by patches of lovely purple flowers on the one side and
the turquoise sea on the other. We were also provided with a
variety of water sports. I tried paddle boarding while Dave tried
sailing a hobie cat, which resulted in a sea rescue AGAIN.


I pointed the bowsprit towards Grenada where Dave found his
ideal "naked waterfall" deep in the jungle. We had to hike into
the bowels of Grenada's rain forest, down a slippery, muddy
trail, danger was all around us....


We ended up where we started, Barbados, where the beaches are
the best in the whole Caribbean. This is my "happy place"....
white, powdered sugar sand, gently sloping beach into clear
blue water where I can walk for a hundred yards and still be
only waist deep.

Congradulations To The Happy Couple

Yes, it has been 20 glorious years of marriage, a milestone,
a miracle, a great feat of patience and achievement, a triumph
over the odds.

ok, it wasn't that hard. We needed each other to surmount life's
challenges and we worked together to become good parents and
good people. Bring on the next twenty!

Happy Anniversary, Dave

It's All About Me

Dave told me that I wouldn't have anything to blog about if he
wasn't so easy to make fun of. It's true, Dave is a basketful of
absurdities. But maybe it's time to poke a little fun at myself.

Although I can never hope to compete with Dave's nutty nature,
I have my own irregular idiosyncracies:

~~I never completely finish my drink. I almost always
abandon a quarter inch of liquid at the bottom.
~~ I also never completely finish my meal. I leave behind something,
a piece of crust, a last bite, a perfectly good scrap.
~~I cannot tolerate certain sounds: clicking pens, smacking gum,
toe tapping, drumming/fiddling, whistling....I despise these things
with the bottom of my irritated heart!
~~I can't take a bath without bubbles (I don't like to see myself)
~~I can't eat just one piece of candy
~~I have to clean the kitchen BEFORE I cook
~~I never feel guilty for sleeping in...ever
~~I always do what I say I'll do, if I know I won't do it I never
say that I will
~~I'm jealous of how beautiful my sisters are
~~If I had one wish it would be the ability to go back in time
with the knowledge I have now
~~If I have one realization it is that I'm finally a grown-up